Colossal cabbage
<p>In a photo taken last summer, Jazlynn Billingsley, 10, peeks out from behind a colossal cabbage she grew in her grandparentsÕ garden in Bayview. The 37.5-pound crucifer earned Jazlynn a $1,000 savings bond for education from Bonnie Plants.</p>
Some kids win scholarships for getting the highest grades in school. For Jazlynn Billingsley, it was growing the biggest cabbage.
The 10-year-old Rathdrum girl was recently awarded a $1,000 savings bond for education in recognition of a colossal cabbage she grew last summer in her grandparents' garden in Bayview. The giant crucifer tipped the scales at 37.5 pounds.
"I didn't think it was going to be that big," Jazlynn said.
The prize came from Bonnie Plants, a national plant wholesaler and sponsor of an annual cabbage-growing program for third-graders.
Jazlynn, now in fourth grade at John Brown Elementary School in Rathdrum, participated last year when she was a student in Diane Link's third-grade class at Athol Elementary.
Link, who recently retired last after a 21-year career in the classroom, said Athol third-graders have been growing Bonnie cabbages for several years.
The kids look forward to it, and it's a big deal, Link said, when the huge truck pulls up to deliver the little cabbages, sometime after spring break each year.
"You can tell who the little gardeners are," Link said.
The kids take the plants home with them for the summer, and are asked to take a photo of their cabbage and bring it with them to school when it starts again in the fall.
The child whose cabbage weighs the most is entered into a contest in each state, and one child's name is randomly selected by an state agriculture official.
Jazlynn was among 10,100 students who participated in Idaho last year, and 1.5 million little growers of giant cabbages in 48 states.
Bonnie Plants provides the O.S. Cross, or "over-sized" cabbages to the schools at no charge.
Cabbages likely have a special place in the hearts of the people at Bonnie. They were the first plants the Alabama-based company sold in 1918.
The kids are told these colossal cabbages have the potential to grow to 40 pounds.
"It was pretty exciting; none of us expected it to happen," said Jazlynn's mom, Sylvia Billingsley.
Sylvia said the credit goes to Jazlynn's grandparents Kirby and Tamie Cunningham, who helped Jazlynn nurture the plan in their garden.
"We just used regular organic fertilizer and we watered it a lot," Jazlynn said.